A/HRC/45/52 services to stem disaffection, drug abuse and violence among youth that leads to unrest and recruitment into criminal and terrorist activities. E. Promoting women’s rights and gender equality 73. Post-conflict environments offer unique opportunities for women to claim their human rights and advance their status in society. To date, Somalia has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. At the national level, women’s rights and gender equality are guaranteed by the Provisional Federal Constitution of 2012, which is currently under review. 74. The Women’s Charter for Somalia of 2019 provides a policy framework for advancing women’s human rights and promoting the political, economic and social development agenda for an inclusive society. Although the Federal Government has endorsed the Women’s Charter, Somali women and girls continue to face challenges in access to education and representation and participation in public life. Moreover, they are subject to sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, female genital mutilation and early and forced marriage. 1. Women’s participation in public life 75. The Independent Expert is concerned that despite the call for the equal participation of women in every aspect of institutional and national life contained in the Women’s Charter (a call supported by Somali women parliamentarians) and for women to occupy at least 30 per cent of positions across the three branches of government, the private sector and independent commissions, women make up less than 25 per cent of federal and state institutions. Moreover, neither the electoral law enacted in February 2020 nor the Provisional Federal Constitution contains a minimum quota of 30 per cent for women’s representation in decision-making positions at all levels of government, making it an uphill task to reach that threshold. Indeed, the representation of women in the new South-West State assembly fell from 22 per cent to 15 per cent, short of the constitutional requirement of 20 per cent.57 76. Progress is obstructed by the male-dominated clan system, which permeates political and family life and which is influenced by an interpretation of sharia law that limits women’s participation in decision-making and leadership positions. Efforts have been made by the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development, in collaboration with the United Nations, AMISOM and others, to equip women with the skills, training and knowledge necessary to enhance their leadership role in politics at the federal and state levels. Recently, they have advocated and obtained the establishment of a working group to address women’s rights and gender equality issues under one of the four pillars of the Somalia National Development Plan 2020–2024. 2. Sexual and gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence 77. The Provisional Federal Constitution and the Penal Code of Somalia provide women with some level of protection from violence. The 2018 sexual offences bill, which should enhance protection for women and girls, is awaiting enactment. Similar sexual offences laws in Somaliland, Puntland and Jubbaland, with some variations, seek to protect women and girls from sexual violence. Despite these developments, however, sexual and physical violence against women and girls is widespread and committed with near-total impunity.58 Reportedly, 76 per cent of rapes occur in camps for internally displaced persons and 14 per cent in host communities,59 and the proportion of the female population justifying domestic violence is 76 per cent. More than 270 conflict-related sexual violence cases reportedly 57 58 59 16 S/2020/398, paras. 36–38. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gender, Institutions and Development Database. Available at https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GIDDB2019. See https://sidrainstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rape-Policy-Brief.pdf.